Wellington suburbs face a 100-day wait for water reconnection after quake

JOEL MAXWELL

Last updated 06:46, April 27 2016

ROBYN EDIE

Wellington's CBD, which could be disconnected from the water supply for up to 90 days after a major earthquake.

The heart of Wellington city, and the nation's government, could be cut off from the water network for three months if a major earthquake struck.

The fragile state of the city's water supply has been highlighted in a report by Wellington Water that reveals some suburbs would be disconnected for months.

It comes as the region's civil defence manager warns city residents to hoard more than the national recommendation for their personal stash.

JOHN NICHOLSON/ FAIRFAX NZ

Suburbs furthest from the supply, such as Miramar, could take up 100 days to reconnect.

If there was a major quake, it would take about 100 days to reconnect all east Wellington properties to the network, and about 90 days for the CBD. That compares with 40 for Porirua, and between five and 30 for the Hutt Valley.

Wellington Water senior manager Mark Kinvig said the figures were the latest estimates, and now the organisation's five council owners needed to decide what level of service they wanted to provide, and how long they wanted to take getting there.

"If we carry on at our current level of investment, we will get there in about 50 years."

ROSS GIBLIN/ FAIRFAX NZ

Wellington Region Emergency Management regional manager Bruce Pepperell said people should store enough water to last 10 days.

The presentation to the regional civil defence group said Wellington had three water supply plants, with its pipes crossing three faultlines.

Until water was reconnected to homes, people would have to face walking up to a kilometre to get their daily supply.

Porirua Mayor Nick Leggett, who is also the emergency management group chairman, said there hadn't been enough work done to upgrade water infrastructure.

He said that might mean taking money from "flashy" projects and redirecting it into infrastructure and resilience work.

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said the reconnection times were a maximum needed to hook up every home in the affected areas.

She said planning was under way for a cross-harbour pipeline, and potentially for water extraction from an aquifer in Evans Bay, which could supply the eastern and southern suburbs.

There had been 1300 rainwater storage tanks sold in Wellington city and the council had been strengthening reservoirs and creating emergency supply tanks in communities, she said.

The likes of hospitals and the region's prisons would be priorities for reconnection.

Wellington Water spokesman Alex van Paassen said the organisation would discuss with its five council owners what they thought were the right levels of service for restoring supply, and what work was needed to achieve this.

"Obviously there are cost implications in levels of service; just as there are if there is no service."